Combleaf Yellow False Foxglove (Aureolaria pectinata)

August 4^th, 2012. I’m familiar with Aureolaria flava, the Smooth Yellow False Foxglove, which grows at Fort Yargo State Park. So when I saw aureolarias blooming in the Oconee National Forest, I didn’t take much notice. And then I saw a particularly pretty plant and decided to take a closer look. 

It was Aureloaria pectinata, the Combleaf Yellow False Foxglove. Compared with Aureolaria flava which has opaque petals, Aureolaria pectinata has slightly translucent petals.  The flowers and stems, and leaves have sticky glandular hairs as I found out when I moved a stem to get a better view – hence the specific name ‘pectinata.’

 The flower

The leaf.  Leaves are opposite and have a distinctly incised margins – giving the plant the ‘combleaf’ name.

A bud which clearly shows the hairs.

A close up of the hairs clearly showing small droplets of propolis. I didn't shoot this photo deliberately. I just notices the droplets in the previous photo and cropped it to highlight these. In fact, I'd forgotten that the plant was sticky until I saw this photograph.

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The flower, from the side

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Views of the flower to show the stamen and stigma. The relative translucency of the petals and the veining are clearly visible.

Aureolaria pectinata (Combleaf Yellow False Foxglove, Southern Oak-leach) is native of the United States where it’s found in states southeast of a line from Virginia to Missouri and southwest to Oklahoma and Texas. In Georgia, it’s found in many counties throughout the state. It has not been documented in Greene County or Oglethorpe County.

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Identification resources:

- Southeastern Flora: Aureolaria pectinata (Combleaf Yellow False Foxglove)

- Name that Plant: Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia
Aureolaria pectinata (Southern Oak-leach)

- Melton Wiggins, Plants of Southern Alabama  and adjoining areas of Mississippi and Florida: False Foxglove, Aureolaria pectinata

Distribution:

- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Aureolaria pectinata (combleaf yellow false foxglove)

- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Aureolaria pectinata

Related posts:

- Exploring… 

- Smooth Yellow False Foxglove (Aureolaria flava)